Report Discusses Japan’s Ethanol Demand, Use

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) A report recently filed with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service’s Global Agricultural Information Network provides insight into Japan’s fuel market and shows potential for increased imports of U.S. ethanol.

According to the report, Japan’s annual biofuel target of 500 million liters (132.09 million gallons) was reached on schedule in 2017 and continues unchanged until 2022. To achieve the target, Japan primarily imports biobased ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE). A small portion of the requirement is also met by domestic ETBE produced from imported ethanol.

Japan revised its environmental standards for ethanol in 2018, opening the market to U.S. corn ethanol. Japan imported ETBE made from U.S. corn ethanol for the first time in July 2019. The GAIN report, however, indicates that the country’s blend rate currently remains among the lowest of countries with a fuel ethanol program.

Japan’s import market for ethanol is also impacted by tariffs. According to the report, the Japanese government eliminated the 10 percent import tariff on ethanol for the production of bio-ETBE in 2016. The tariff exemption, however, does not apply to ethanol imports for use other than bio-ETBE production.

Fuel ethanol imports are expected to reach 790 million liters in 2019, down from 820 million liters in 2018 and 816 million liters in 2017.

A full copy of the report can be downloaded from the USDA FAS GAIN website. READ MORE

Excerpt from Argus Media: Japan purchases bioethanol only from Brazil to produce gasoline blendstock ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE). The country's refiners are obligated to use 500,000 kilolitres/yr (8,616 b/d) of bioethanol over five years, starting from the April 2018-March 2019 fiscal year. The target volume represents around 1pc of Japan's current gasoline consumption.

But the country also imports ETBE from the US, taking 777,916 bl in August, down by 21.1pc from a year earlier. READ MORE